


Clockwork Hearts

by MabFaerie



Category: Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Mass Effect, Original Work
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fallout, Alternate Universe - Mass Effect Fusion, Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Artificial Intelligence, F/M, F/Other, Funny, Near Future, Other, Possible smut, Post-Apocalypse, Romance, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, f/m - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-20
Updated: 2015-02-25
Packaged: 2018-03-13 22:32:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3398615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MabFaerie/pseuds/MabFaerie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Struggling to survive in a post-apocalyptic wasteland is never an easy task. Charlotte Warren has taken to scavenging old, abandoned facilities and science labs for anything that might be worth a coin or two on the struggling market.<br/>When she discovers an unruly A.I. chip from a lucrative former business, she decides to take it along in the hopes of pawning it for a good price. What she doesn't realize is that fate just might have other plans in store.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Professional Retrieval Expert

**Author's Note:**

> The setting for this story was inspired by a combination of the Fallout series and Mass Effect series. It blends elements and themes of both settings to form a dystopian post-apocalyptic futuristic setting.

Picking the lock for the electronics maintenance facility, Theta-Tau, was shockingly easier than Charlie had thought it would be. It appeared that no one had bothered with anything impressive for the entrance alarm, as it only took a simple string of code inserted into the start-up sequence before the clever wanderer found her way inside.  
Charlie could only assume that with Theta-Tau being a facility open to the general public, it was ripe with lackluster security measures, not that she was complaining.

Illuminated by a dim fluorescent glow, the entryway was rather a sad sight to behold. Emergency lights flickered weakly, struggling to keep themselves aglow as the backup generator chugged and strained against its last few drops of energy.  
With the exception of the faint humming from long-forgotten machinery, all was eerily quiet and still. This place, or at least this section of it, was abandoned. 

If Charlie wanted to scavenge the building for parts, she needed to do it now. There was no guarantee she’d be able to get access to some of the latter areas once the power went out; Electrical locks with no electricity to run them were kind of a pain in the ass to bypass and although the entrance had been easy enough to override she’d really rather save herself from future trouble if she could afford it.

Raising a hand to her left shoulder, Charlie switched on her torchlight, adding a white glow to the otherwise blue-hued room.  
Continuing forward, she side-stepped a few small puddles, noticing a stale dampness to the air and fresh spots of wetness on some of the entry consoles. Rain had begun to find its way into the cracks in the walls or ceiling, damaging and decaying the interior one drop at a time. She could only hope that the rest of unit was in better condition or her trip would be a waste.

Before her on opposite ends of the wall were two doors. She tried the door on the right and found it locked, the same followed for the door on the left. Turning back around, she faced a small console that unfortunately seemed too water-damaged to boot up properly, set atop what must have been the information desk.  
A quick search of the perimeter revealed an additional sliding door that led to a small closet and some locker space, but nothing that would get her anywhere further into the building. 

“Okay, let’s do this the hard way then.” She sighed, moving towards the leftmost door and pressing her wrist against the small square keypad that sat just beneath the handle.  
Devoid of light or electricity, the slim locking mechanism would not allow entry. Not easily, at least.  
“Two zaps should do the trick.” She murmured, flicking some switches set into the rightmost side of a rather thick-looking bracelet attached to her left wrist. A flicker of light sparked between the bracelet and keypad, causing Charlie to cry out as a sharp, short pain spread across her skin. The stinging shock traveled simultaneously up her arm and down her palm, lingering a bit in her elbow and in her fingertips before slowly fading away, leaving the limb tingling and aching in its wake.

Shaking her arm a few times until the feeling returned, Charlie winced,  
“I’ve got to find a better to do this kind of work.” Trying the handle of door proved it to be unlocked. At least she’d managed that much. 

The room beyond the doorway revealed itself to be a waiting room of sorts. Comfortable looking armchairs lined the walls and a variety of long-outdated magazines were gathering dust atop a worn looking coffee table in the room’s center. Straight ahead appeared to be a public restroom and to her right was an open doorway leading out into a hall.The hallway split off both left and right; the door to her right was probably the second door in the entryway that she hadn’t bothered hacking open, so Charlie decided to skip that one for now and started off in the opposite direction, left.

The hallway continued for a while before a row of doors crept up on her left. Small silver plaques beside each one identified them as offices. Of the four, two belonged to Professors, one was an engineer and the last belonged to a Doctor.  
“Hmm… Interesting set-up. I wonder what happened to you lot.” Charlie murmured to herself as she took a glance through each room in turn. The offices were not only unlocked, but half of them didn’t even bother shutting their doors. It was clear that they didn’t expect anyone to make it in this far once they locked up for the night. That, or the owners had expected to come back reasonably soon and sadly never managed it.

As if her breaking in hadn’t been enough of a hint, it was clear that this place hadn’t seen any visitors lately. She’d wondered if the spot might have been looted before her, but knew now that she had nothing to worry about. Everything in the office looked neat and organized. No drawers were left open, no furniture tipped upright. Nothing appeared stolen or broken.  
Unfortunately, aside from old documents and stationary supplies, the rooms didn’t hold anything of value either. Piles of invoices from clients and competitors alike filled folders to the brim; All neatly alphabetized in filing cabinets, once thought to be precious and priceless, now lay forgotten and discolored, crumpling beneath her touch. It was a pity no one seemed interested in trade secrets of a bygone era. Charlie could’ve retired right then and there, if so.

Past the rooms, at the end of the hallway, a large chunk of the ceiling seemed to have caved in from water damage. A large, long light fixture hung in mid-air, just barely clinging to a bit of tile still in place from the ceiling above. The wreckage blocked the door at the end of the hall, aptly labeled ‘break room’ on its front in large, blocky letters.  
  
“Well that’s no fun. I was hoping for a coffee.” Charlie snarked, carefully climbing over the debris and doing her best to avoid the hanging light, but panicking slightly when her foot kicked it on her decent. It swung a few times in her direction and seemed to dip a bit lower than it had before, grazing the ground once or twice, but luckily held on.

Moving on, the remaining rubble-free hallway curved to the right just past a set of double doors. It was here that Charlie began to feel hopeful. Ignoring another row of rooms that looked like meeting areas, Charlie turned her attention to the clear glass doors of what was unmistakably a laboratory. Two of them to be exact, set side by side, waiting for her. They were probably still clean and in decent, untouched condition, if the rest of the building was anything to go by.

As Charlie tried the handles, her heart sank a little. Both Labs were locked.  
“So much for leaving a place cleaner than you found it.” She frowned, contemplating shooting the glass with her gun but ultimately deciding against it. At such close proximity, she’d risk too much damage to her person. Besides, there was no telling where the bullet might end up; she didn’t want to accidentally destroy something valuable.

Instead, she moved close to the door and raised her right leg, sending a hard kick towards the spot closest to the door handle, watching as her steel boot caused the thin glass to splinter some. It took three more kicks before the glass faltered, crackling in fragments that spread outwards in a spiders-web pattern. Finally, it gave. A large chunk of glass fell to the floor, looking surprisingly more whole than Charlie had expected it to.

Carefully, she reached through the hole, turning the deadbolt to the left until it clicked free before pulling her hand back to safety. Nudging the now unlocked door aside, Charlie cautiously side-stepped the bit of broken glass and headed straight towards the back end of the lab, foraging the shelves and cabinets for whatever medical supplies she could find.

Bullets sold well in markets, but it was bandages that sold better. First Aid Kits, Med-gel, pills, syringes, arm-wraps, anything that could be used to stitch up or medicate the battered and broken would sell for a ridiculous rate between traders. The world was keen to continue destroying itself so any scrap that could be put towards making it better was worth its weight in gold.

After weaponry and medical supplies, it was mostly wine and booze that kept the market moving. Charlie would have to hit up an abandoned liquor shop or grocery store for that kind of loot, and nine times out of ten the place was usually ransacked long before she stepped foot on the premises. 

That was partially the reason she’d began hunting down harder to knock places like Theta-Tau anyway. The electronic locks guarding the main entrances kept the run-of-the-mill wanderers at bay and anyone with half the talent to hack in would have hunted a bigger target.  
Charlie was perfectly content to keep picking through the cozy little niche that afforded her; the spaces too hard for the common thug to break into and too meager for the intelligent rogue to bother with. She wasn’t rolling in dough as a result, but at the same time, she wasn’t going toe-to-toe with her competition either.

When she’d finished sorting through the lab, her end result was a rather nice haul; Three First Aid Kits, seven rolls of gauze, a couple bottles of pills that looked to be generic pain killers, four thin packages of Med-Gel and one 4-ounce can of Med-Aid Spray Adhesive.

She’d probably keep one of the Med-Gel’s and the can of Med-Aid for herself then sell the rest on the market. The First Aid kits were always handy, but usually too bulky to be worth the trouble of carting around all over God’s green earth. Charlie would often sell them the first chance she got.

The second lab, broken into the same as the first, contained similar supplies, adding among other things a few more Med-Gel’s to her stockpile as well as some allergy medicine and a package of syringes. All things considered, the bit of shock from the break-in was definitely worth the end result of cash these supplies would net her.

Despite her rather lucrative results, however, there was one thing that bothered Charlie about the building. Theta-Tau was an electronic maintenance facility, yet she hadn’t seen much of any electronics anywhere. There’d been a few scrap pieces of metal and other various projects stowed away behind glass cabinets in each of the labs, but nothing overtly impressive or eye-catching. Surely there had to be something she could make a few caps off of?

Moving passed the labs, Charlie came to a staircase on her left and a storage-room for electronic goods in need of pickup to her right. Through the slim glass pane, she could see a combination of scientific and medical supplies, all gathering dust, looking warped and rusted.  
A part of the ceiling had collapsed, and moonlight poured in through the open-spaces. The debris blocked the doorway and the confined space of the room prevented Charlie from trying to force it open and push the debris aside, there was simply nowhere for the debris to be _pushed aside to_.

With the storage room inaccessible to her, Charlie turned her attention to the staircase. According to the small board set along the wall beside the stairs, the 2nd stairs led to more offices and meeting rooms and then eventually to the roof, while the basement level was more storage and unwanted electronic goods in queue for incineration.

Figuring that she’d be better off searching for half-decent items in the incineration queue, Charlie took the stairs down; ascending two at a time until she’d reached the bottom landing. What greeted her was a solid metal cage with a heavy padlock barring her entrance and no key in sight.

“Do we have to lock _all the things_?” Charlie groaned, staring longingly at the piles of equipment behind the cage, taunting her with their very existence. There was no way she’d be able to carry them all out, but she could definitely handle three or four lighter, choice pieces, each worth a pretty penny, most likely.

A quick survey of the area revealed some air ducts that looked just big enough for Charlie to squeeze through, _maybe_ ; a desk that wasn’t tall enough for Charlie to use as a boost towards the top of the cage, despite her having tried twice; and a rusty crowbar leaning against a wall that refused to cooperate in prying the lock off the door no matter how many times she swung it.

“Seriously?! Now would be a really good time for you to corrode the _hell open_ , door!” Kicking the lock accomplished nothing. The cage shook for a moment and then came to a still, immune to her actions.  
“You’re going to make me crawl into the tiny vent, aren’t you?” She glared at the cage accusingly, as if this were its master plan all along.

The vents, from what she could tell, traveled across the span of the basement in its entirety. Judging by what she could see from outside the cage, if Charlie could get about halfway through the vents, she’d end up in the space designated for recent arrivals. The newer the product was, the more likely it’d be to actually work. _Or so she hoped._ She could still sell a broken item, but a functioning one was worth much more.

With increasing amounts of reluctance, Charlie pushed the desk towards the far wall where the vent waited. Its face, although dusty, was easy enough to open, practically inviting her in with its simplistic design.  
“I hate you. I hate _everything about you_.” She grumbled as she climbed into the tight space, just barely able to fit despite being rather small and short of stature. Every move forward made her wince and whimper in disgust. The vents had obviously not been cleaned long before the building became abandoned. Dust, dirt and grime coated the walls, and the space was very likely crawling with all manner of bugs and vermin.

As her fingertips brushed a stray web, Charlie nearly screamed in horror,  
“Oh god, cobwebs. _Spiders_! Spiders in my hair. Spiders in my skin. Spiders everywhere!” After frantically flitting her hand about until the web was free, Charlie managed to calm down some and continue on her journey into the darkness.  
“Alright, Charlie, it’s okay. Don’t freak out. Gotta remember, it doesn’t matter how many spiders live in your hair if you’re rich!” Her pep-talk was in vain because like clockwork, a brown spotted spider darted across the space three inches from her right hand, coaxing another gasp of horror from her lips.

“Nope! No way! Fuck it, I’d rather be poor!” Kicking open the first vent she saw, Charlie dropped down to the room below , landing with a painful thud as her bottom hit hard concrete.  
“Oh god, _my ass_ —nope, that was still totally worth it--Fuck you spiders.” She winced and griped for a long moment until the sharp pain shooting across her bottom eventually subsided. It took a few pat downs before Charlie was certain she was free of both dust and spiders, looking a bit dirtier than when she’d started but otherwise intact.

Taking a scan of her surroundings revealed that she’d made it over the cage, but wasn’t anywhere near her destination point. Her first step forward kicked a small object a few feet in front of her. It shone, despite the dim lighting, catching her gaze with its smooth exterior.

Kneeling down, she picked up the object, a slim black casing with _‘D’amore’_ written across its face in a flourished cursive font. It looked like it would fit in the port of her bracelet, so it was very likely electronic in design.

“Fancy.” Charlie turned the object over in her hands, curious now as to its origins. She remembered D’amore. It was a big-name electronics company that had played a major role in the mass production of Androids and unique A.I. personalities. Anything with the D’Amore logo was bound to be worth a small fortune. The real question was: why would someone want to destroy it? Why not simply sell it instead?

“Either way, you’re mine now. Here’s hoping you don’t break my stuff.” Charlie murmured as she slid the chip into the empty port on the bottom of her bracelet, listening as it clicked neatly in place and watching as whatever data was on the chip synced with her own.

Almost instantaneously a small hologram appeared, a face of a young man flooding the screen, yawning, as if he’d just woken up.  
Charlie wasn’t sure how else to describe him other than beautiful. His features were too perfect, almost like a doll, really. He was very akin to something positively inhuman.  
His face, particularly his chin and cheekbones, were sharp and slender; complimented by peculiar pointed ears. His narrow eyes were a blue-grey shade and his mouth was soft and rounded, the faint pink of his lips drawing a clear contrast against his otherwise smooth, ivory skin.  
He had long, cascading hair, tight locks of silvery-blonde or perhaps an off-white, it was hard to tell with the way holograms always gave things a discoloured sheen. Beneath his left eye was a mark, a tattoo of sorts.

Before Charlie could get a better look, the figure spoke,  
“Greetings. My information databanks inform me that you are not the rightful owner of this property.” His tone was rich with an accent that Charlie couldn’t quite place. British? Scottish? Irish? It was hard to tell.

“I’m afraid I have some terribly bad news for you then.” Charlie smirked. If this A.I. thought it would be reunited with its prior owner, it was in for a rude awakening. Not only was its owner very likely dead by now, but judging by the fact that it was in line to be incinerated, his prior owner probably didn’t even want him back to begin with.

“Please return me at once to my rightful owner. If you require her coordinates, I will happy to connect to the nearest open signal and search for her.” The voice continued, obviously not giving a damn what Charlie had to say about the matter.

“Yeah, you do that. Let me know if you have any luck.” Charlie rolled her eyes and continued scavenging the area for anything that might fetch her a good price. The A.I. seemed like it was running well-enough, its price would probably keep her fed for a couple months, maybe half a year if she was frugal.

After shoving a few more choice items into her backpack, the probably-British voice spoke again,  
“Repeated attempts to connect to an open source have failed. I request you to return me to my prior owner at your earliest possible convenience. In the meantime, I will continue trying to connect.” There was no way in hell any buyer was going to take this A.I. off her hands if he kept going on about his prior owner. Didn’t he have some kind of reset button?

“Hey, A.I. dude? How do I reformat you?”  
“You do not have the necessary permissions to perform a hard reset. Only authorized users may perform a hard reset.” The voice reprimanded her, sounding almost pleased at the fact.  
“Alright, fine. How do I change your current active owner?” Charlie inquired, while kneeling to adjust some of the items weighing down her backpack. She’d only be able to fit a few more before she’d need to head off and unload them somewhere.

“Primary owner can only be altered by two means. One is by the current owner designating a secondary owner. The other is by the A.I. designating a secondary owner. The primary owner can only be dismissed when a secondary owner is on standby.” The possibly-Irish voice replied, sounding all the world as if he were reading instructions from a manual.

“Alright, awesome. So, make me a secondary owner then!” Charlie chirped, figuring she could just dismiss herself later and give ownership to whoever she sold the A.I. to.  
“No.” He replied. A glance out of the corner of her eye showed the hologram looking rather displeased.

Charlie stopped in her tracks and raised the bracelet towards her face so that she was eye level with the A.I.  
“What the hell do you mean _‘No’_. That’s an order! You can’t say ‘No’, you’re just a _robot_! Hell, you’re not even a robot! You’re a bunch of 1’s and 0’s with a pretty plastered on face!”  
“And you’re just a thief.” The A.I. replied, that know-it-all smirk settling in once more.  
“For your information, I like to think of myself as a _professional retrieval expert_. Thank you very much.”  
“You give yourself a fancy name to hide your lies behind. Clever... And sad.”  
“Don’t analyze me, _Data_.” Charlie snapped, lowering her wrist as she nabbed one last trinket, shoving it into the side pocket of her backpack before tugging the now uncomfortably heavy sack back on.

She traced her way back to the front gate and sighed. Maybe there was a way to open it from the inside?  
“The thief is trapped inside. How fitting. I shall wait for the guards to find you.”  
“You’ll be waiting a long time, then--I’ll have to find another way out. I don’t want to crawl through the vents again.”  
“The thief could fit inside the vents? You must be tiny. My scans indicate your height is a half inch below five feet. The thief seems malnourished. I recommend--”  
“Save the recipes for later, Chef. I’m trying to figure out how to escape. Also, stop scanning me. _Creep_.” If the A.I. had any sort of snarky reply, Charlie wasn’t listening, she was too busy searching the area for a spare set of keys or something to break down the door with.

In the midst of her search, a long, heavy sigh sounded from the direction of her wrist.  
With an annoyed huff she glanced to the hologram,“Yes, robot?”  
“The little thief might find a pair of bolt cutters sticking out from the box three feet to her left, if she looked.” He spoke as if this was both very boring and very obvious at the same time.

Sure enough, there they were. The bolt cutters rested a few inches deep into a box full of spare tools and scrap metal. Collecting the bolt cutters, Charlie made short work of the lock, cutting it free and tugging hard on the door ‘til it budged.  
“Thanks.” She murmured to no reply. It seemed the A.I. wasn’t particularly pleased at having to help her. Still, he’d done it; Even if it was only a matter of time before she would have found the bolt cutters herself, he was probably just looking to speed things up for his own benefit.

In a moment, Charlie was back upstairs and halfway through the waiting room, nearly in the entryway when the hologram spoke again,  
“The power isn’t on, little thief. How did you get in here?”  
“Short-circuited the switch. Hurt like hell. Think it burnt me a bit.” She glanced at her wrist as she spoke, her gaze sweeping past the face that eyed her curiously and down across her wrist, wincing in the memory of the pain.  
“Just deserts.” He replied, not an ounce of sympathy in his tone.  
“You sound like you’re a lot of fun at parties.”  
Charlie couldn’t say for sure, but from the corner of her eye she thought she saw him smirk.


	2. An Unexpected Encounter

Stepping out into the darkened night, Charlie shivered. The air was cold and smelled faintly of sulfur and salt; she had the feeling that it was going to rain soon.   
The landscape stretched out before her, looking barren and ragged like it always did, as if it had been forgotten in time and left to the hands of fate. All things considered though, it had been.

While the interior of Theta-Tau was preserved well enough, the exterior looked worn and decayed. The structure bore a greenish-black hue, akin to mold having grown over soot, much like the rest of the buildings that lined the surrounding strip.

“What… _happened?_ ” An incredulous voice drew her attention towards her bracelet. An expression of shock and pain had fixed itself on the A.I.’s face as his gaze took in the scene before him, it was clear he hadn’t been topside in a long time.   
“War, mostly.” Charlie replied, her words softer than she’d meant them to be.  
“I get the feeling you’ve been asleep for a while.” She added, continuously surprised by the A.I.’s rather life-like response to everything.   
  
“So it would seem.” There was a pause between them both while they searched for words to say. Charlie wasn’t very good at comforting people so she didn’t even know where to begin when it came to comforting things that _weren’t_ people.  
Eventually though, the A.I. spoke, his tone somewhat defeated, “I’m not going to find my owner, am I?”   
  
Charlie hesitated. She could lie, but what use would it be? Giving him false hope seemed cruel, and besides, he’d probably know it wasn’t the truth anyway. It was better to just be up front with him.   
“I really don’t think so, Data.”  
“I have a name!” The A.I. snapped, causing Charlie’s softened gaze to shift into an annoyed frown as she hastily replied,  
“Well, maybe if you’d tell me it, I could call you by it!”   
  
A split-second pause followed a sharp clearing of the throat. Oh this A.I. was quirky, alright. Charlie was willing to bet that if he’d had a body he would have flourished and bowed when he spoke next,  
“I am an AIDAN, an Artificially Intelligent Neural-integrated Android by D’Amore-Corp, at your service--”  
“That’s not how you spell--“  
“I rearranged it to sound more aesthetically pleasing.” He cut in, smug as usual  
“Y’know, I am suddenly starting to see why they junked you, Aiden.” She grumbled, her tone quiet enough for him to not quite hear all of it.  
“I have no idea what you’re muttering about, but to clarify, my name _isn’t_ Aiden—“  
“You just said--!”  
“I said _I am_ an Aiden. You wouldn’t want me calling you _human_ , now would you? No, my _name_ is Jack.”  
“Jack.” Charlie repeated it to confirm.   
“That’s correct. Now, will I have the pleasure of learning your name, little thief?”

Charlotte started moving again before she bothered to reply, not wanting to linger in one space too long as the wastes were home and breeding ground to all variety of unpleasantness. Starting down the nearest dirt path, she began the trek towards Haven, the nearest port-town about an hour out from the business district she’d been looting in.  
  
“Charlotte Warren.” She replied at last before hastily adding on, “But my friends call me Charlie.”  
“Charlotte Warren. Registered thief. Understood.” Jack reiterated, as if he were taking notes, which, considering the fact that he was a sentient A.I., he probably _was_.  
“No, no, hold on, I am _not_ a thief! You were just sitting there! Forgotten! Nobody wants you!” Charlie snapped back at her bracelet, somewhat annoyed, wondering if any looters might sight her in the distance and think she was an easy target for talking to herself.  
“….Charlotte Warren. An _inconsiderate_ thief. File updated.”  
“You give an _awful lot_ of lip for something with no mouth, Jack.”

Before the A.I. could offer a snarky retort, Charlie noticed two figures in the distance, traveling the same path as her. Judging by their armor, they were probably raiders, planning to scour the district for any easily gained loot or coin. They’d make short work of a girl like her, quite effortlessly at that.   
At a towering foot or so taller than her and at least twice her weight, she’d easily be outnumbered if she tried taking them on in the open.  
  
“Charlotte--“ Jack began to warn her but she was already way ahead of him.  
“Shit, Jack, Shut the hell up!”  
“She says as she hisses loudly into her armlet.” Jack muttered but immediately fell silent afterwards, most likely watching the events unfold with an eager curiosity.

Darting behind a ruined shack, Charlie knelt down, switching off her torchlight and retrieving her gun from the holster on her hip before aiming it towards the rightmost raider. If she was lucky, they might pass on by without ever noticing her. If she wasn’t, well… at least she’d be able to take one out and skew the odds in her favor.  
  
Under the cover of darkness, Charlotte watched as the raiders drew closer, laughing to themselves about some unheard joke and seeming oblivious to her location. She held her breath as they passed, her heart hammering beneath her breast, body alive with adrenaline and fear.   
Every day she wondered if today would be her last. Moments like this only drove that fear home. She was clever and she was resourceful, but she wasn’t a fighter by any means. Every battle she’d ever won had been won on luck alone, not prowess. She wasn’t a soldier, not even close. 

She exhaled in relief as the raiders move on, seemingly oblivious to her location. Wasting no time, she fled from her hiding spot running as fast as her legs would carry her down the darkened path, trying to put as much distance between herself and the raiders as she could manage.  
To her horror, a third raider stepped out from inside a ruined house and sprinted directly into her path. She yelped in shock, failing to dodge him as he used her own tactic against her.  
  
“Did you think I didn’t see you, little lass?” He growled as both hands reached towards her, one pushing the hand that held her gun upward and away from him while the other wrapped tightly around her neck, dragging her halfway to her knees.   
  
“Don’t pull the trigger, or my friends will hear and disturb us.” He chuckled into her ear as he tugged her backpack off, casting it aside before pushing her to the ground beneath him.   
A painful squeeze of her wrist forced the gun out of her grasp and he quickly moved to pin both arms above her head with one hand, while his free hand began to map the contours of her frame. Greedily, he squeezed the curve of her left hip, fingernails digging into her skin through the thin cloth between his grip and her frame.  
  
“Stop!” She pleaded, straining against him. His free hand rose, delivering a sharp strike across her left cheek to silence her. She could taste blood in her mouth; she must bit her tongue from the shock.   
“If you behave, I might let you live. If you don’t, I’ll be sure to call my buddies over and let them have a round or two before we kill you.” He breathed; his tone a mixture of amusement and excitement. He stank of alcohol and sweat and even in the dim lighting she could tell he was an ugly man.  
  
His nose was misshapen, as if it had been broken twice, he had dark eyes and bushy eyebrows. When he grinned, she noticed that he had one front tooth made of gold and a few teeth missing altogether. When he leaned in close to kiss her, she turned her head aside, his beard scratched against her cheek, itchy and uncomfortable. 

“Now, now. No need to play coy, little missy. You and I are going to be good friends, I think.” He laughed again, the tone dark and malicious. Without pausing for a reply, he lowered one hand to his belt buckle, beginning to undo the simple contraption. Charlie squirmed in response, trying to wriggle out of his grasp but finding his grip unwavering.

All at once, a flash of light emitted from her bracelet. She watched as his hand lit up, bright sparks burning the entirety of his palm and forcing him to relinquish his grasp as he cried out in pain.  
Wasting no time, Charlotte scrambled backwards, kicking him hard right in his core and grabbing her gun a few inches away. She emptied the chamber in his head, which would have been saying much if it wasn’t only half loaded anyway.  
She heard the sound of his friends shouting in the distance and knew it was only a matter of time before they came back for their now-very-dead comrade. Gathering up her backpack, she gave the asshole one more kick in balls before running off into the night, determined to keep herself from encountering the rest of the gang. 

Straying from the main road, she darted down side streets and alleys when she could, until she was out of the district entirely and back on the highway, thankfully abandoned at that time of night. 

“You did that, didn’t you, Jack? …Why? Why did you help me?” She asked, referring to the spark from her bracelet that had somehow managed to avoid burning her entirely.  
“Of course I did, it was self-preservation at its finest. I couldn’t allow myself to fall into the hands of a grimy scoundrel like him! Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t!” Jack insisted, sounding just as self-satisfied as ever.   
“Oh, of course. Silly me. Here I thought you were just looking out for me. No, no, no, you were just looking out for _you._ ” She grumbled, feigning annoyance. She couldn’t be mad at him, even if his reasoning’s were a tad skewed, he’d helped save her life after all.   
  
There was an extended silence between them as Charlie continued onwards into the night, her path to Haven dragging out longer than usual as she took the least populated routes and made efforts to keep her noise and reflected light at a minimum.   
At long last, she could see the small port-town in the distance, about twenty minutes away from her.  
  
“Jack?” She called out as her nervousness from the violent encounter finally began to ease away.  
“Yes, little thief?” He didn’t sound like his usual self, no trace of smug superiority evident in his tone this time, just the quite jibe born from his nickname for her.  
“Thank you for helping me back there. I really appreciate it.” There was a pause, for a moment she thought he wasn’t going to reply, but finally he did, sounding genuinely sincere in his response.  
“You’re very welcome, Charlotte.”


	3. A Safe Haven

The port town of Haven was bustling with activity, even in the dead of night. The guards patrolling the entrance gave her a curt nod when she approached, recognizing the familiar face. She nodded back in return and started towards the leftmost entrance into Haven, completely avoiding the small line of people filed in queue outside of the rightmost entrance.  
  
The reason the port town was so safe was because of its rather stringent entry process. Those who had never been to the town before, or didn’t bother purchasing an access-chip once inside, filed on the right side; going through a search and pat-down and having all weapons either temporarily confiscated, if they were the manual kind, or neutralized if they were electronic.  
  
They also had to sit through an interview of sorts, where they explained why they were coming to Haven, be it to sell goods or to stop in to rest, or whatever their reason. The process helped to weed out those looking to get into Haven fast just to cause trouble, and if those raiders came looking for Charlie tonight, she’d hope it would be enough to deter them.

Those who had visited Haven before could purchase an Access-chip for a hefty sum, which would be scanned at the door on the left and allow them entrance to the city after stepping through a weapons-deactivation field and relinquishing any manual firearms. The access chip allowed them to avoid a more thorough, repetitive pat-down and completely skip the interview.  
  
Only people who had visited Haven regularly for at least a month could purchase an access-chip, and the chip deactivated within six months if it saw no use. That meant that only the faces of people regular to Haven were slipping in and out unquestioned and that if someone with an access-chip started causing trouble, guards would probably know who it was just from hearing the perpetrators name.  
That’s not to say violence never happened in Haven, but rather, without proper weapons visitors only had their fists to use; All things considered, most people weren’t quite as keen to go on a mass punching-spree and expect to get away with it.  

Pressing her bracelet against the black, electronic box beside the door, Charlie waited a moment for the structure to allow her entrance. When it did, she quickly stepped through the scanner and relinquished her weapons, making small talk with the guard on duty about his wife and newborn son before heading off into the city.  
“Haven looks different than I remember.” Jack spoke up as Charlie weaved her way through crowds, heading for the nearest pub.  
“I can’t talk to you here, Jack. Someone will notice. I don’t want you to get stolen.” Charlie murmured, trying to let her mouth move as little as possible when she spoke.  
“They can’t hear me, you know?” He chided, sounding all the world as if he'd rolled his eyes with every word.  
“Hold on.” Charlie stopped short for a split-second, tense and unsure. She made a motion of fixing her shoe-laces, kneeling down and deliberately unlacing a boot, keeping her head low to mask her moving lips.  
  
“What do you mean, they can’t hear you?” She pressed him for answers as her fingers deftly tugged and pulled, pretending to dig at a knot in the fine cord.  
“Neural-integration, remember? You’re my owner. Temporarily, anyway--don’t go thinking I like you or something. While I’m in this state, only you can hear me.”  
“State? What state? You have another state?”  
“It’s like talking to a child, Oh _honestly_ , Charlotte. Of course I have another state! My body! I know my charming personality is lovely and all, but it’s my body that would be of most use to you. Finesse like mine would have made short work of those bastards earlier.”

“You’re an A.I. You don’t _have_ a body, Jack!” Charlie muttered furiously, having finished lacing her one boot and now switching over to the other, taking the occasional nervous glance around to make sure no one was watching her.   
“Shows how much you know, Darling. Of course I have a body! Every A.I. released by D’Amore have the capacity for physical integration with bodies.”  
“Like… like a person’s bod--“  
“No, not a person’s body! What do you think I am, some kind of skin-stealer? I’m talking about custom-made bodies. Like… like _mannequins_ , if one must make such a crude comparison.”

“Well, I don’t have one of those.” Charlie griped before standing up at last, quickly picking up her pace now that her boots were retied, not wanting to seem like something was wrong and give the guards the wrong impression.  
“No, no you don’t. But I know where we can find one.” Jack assured her as she ducked into the nearest diner, settling down into a small booth and relaxing for the first time that day.

The diner was cozy; a bit on the small side, making it so that if more than two people sat on one end of a booth they might feel a little cramped, but otherwise it had a comfortable vibe.  
In its center sat a long, round bar where rows of high-topped chairs formed a perfect line, each seat offering a clear view into the kitchen, where two figures hurried about, chopping, frying, boiling and simmering all variety of foods. The inviting scent was more than enough to make Charlie’s stomach ache in hungry protest.  
Dark blue booths lined the walls of the establishment, mostly empty save for one or two guests still lingering over a cup of coffee or a Danish. There were a handful more patrons at the round counter, reading newspapers and chatting with the staff, who seemed nearly as bored as their customers looked.  
  
As Charlie was taking in the sights, Jacks voice interjected once more. She was beginning to suspect that she’d never know peace ever again so long as he was around,  
“Right; or we could stop for a coffee. I mean, I guess that’s fine too. Spend all day hunting useless trinkets and ignore the most valuable one, no worries.” He grumbled, sounding only slightly more annoyed than Charlie felt.  
“I have to _eat,_ Jack.” Charlie whispered with a hand over her mouth, following up her words with a cough to play it off. She wasn’t about to give in to his demands so soon, even if she was curious about the whole mannequin-body-thing. She needed to take care of herself first and foremost, and at the moment that meant getting a hot meal and a bed to sleep in.  
  
Without needing any prompting, an elderly, olive-skinned woman bustled over with a clean mug and a pot of coffee, setting the mug down on Charlie’s table and filling it three fourths of the way up. Charlie recognized the woman immediately as Evelyn Jones.  
The plump, kindly older woman who ran the diner with her two sons, Michael and Henry, had been in Haven longer than Charlie could remember. She was one of the first people to make Charlie feel welcomed, always keeping an eye out for her when Charlie crawled her way back to town after a long trip away. She tried to make sure Charlie stayed fed and patched up best as she could and Charlie certainly appreciated it.  
A bit feisty, even on her off days, Evelyn was ever the attentive mother-figure of Haven. She seemed to keep a watchful eye on the going-on’s of Haven and she swore up and down that if she wanted to remember someone’s face and name forever, she’d only have to say and see it twice.  

“Back from another hunt, eh, darlin’?” Jones inquired, that familiar knowing smile resting on her lips.  
“And I’m still in one piece even!” Charlie announced, accepting the mug and carefully adding some sugar and cream from the small condiments tray at the far edge of the table.  
“Well, that’s all I can hope for, sweetness.” Her careful gaze took note of the bruises and bumps dotting Charlie’s skin, of the reddish sheen to her cheek where she’d been slapped, of the cut along her lip where she’d bit both her tongue and her mouth. Charlie could tell just by looking at her that there were always a lot of things Miss Jones wanted to say, but seldom did she ever seem to say them.  
  
Wandering the wastes wasn’t the kind of life a girl like Charlie deserved. They both knew that. In another place, on another day, maybe Charlie could have lived a peaceful life, hiding behind Haven’s walls in a ramshackle hut, bussing tables at Jones Diner to make ends meet. A quiet life and a quiet death, all in that little port town. Guarded by soldiers and scanners; slowly suffocating itself under its own weight.  
There was no denying that Haven was safe… But it was so damn _boring_ too.  
  
“I’ve got some supplies I’ll be dropping off at Ben’s shop later. Be sure and tell Michael to stop by.” Charlie smiled at Jones who nodded in turn, a silent exchange between the two of them that left Jack wondering just what they were referring to.  
“Oh, you know that boy, he practically lives there. I’ll be sure to tell him just in case. Well, anyway, what can I get you tonight, darlin’?” Jones inquired, pulling a small notepad from the pocket of her apron.  
“Just some soup, whatever's on hand, if you’ve got it.”  
“For you? I’ve always got it. Sit tight, it’ll be right out, Sugar.” After scribbling something short and concise in her notepad, the older woman disappeared behind swinging double-doors out of sight.

For an odd, long moment, there was silence. Charlie had expected Jack to jump right back into a string of complaints the moment Jones was out of sight, but he said nothing. Charlie was about to inquire if he was alright before he finally spoke up,  
“Am I one of the things you’re dropping off, Charlotte?” He sounded genuinely concerned, maybe even a little hurt. The trace of emotion in his voice unsettled Charlie, making her wonder just how far his sentience went. Beyond mere logical thought and simple conversation, was he capable of feelings too? She didn't have the time or energy required to ponder those kinds of questions and pushed the thought aside.  
  
“No. You’re not.” She answered after careful consideration. He was worth a lot of money; that much was for sure. A.I. like him were exceedingly rare nowadays and considering his already functioning condition, he’d probably sell for more money than Charlie would ever see in her lifetime otherwise.  
And yet… she didn’t want to just hand him off. Maybe it was because he’d saved her life, or maybe it was because she sort of liked the company, but Charlie didn’t feel right pawning Jack off like any other piece of equipment. It wouldn’t feel the same.      

“I’m afraid you’re stuck with me, Jack.” She smirked into her coffee, hiding her words and her playful smile in the warm, sweetened beverage.  
“I see. Well then, I resign myself to this fate.” He teased, but his tone sounded considerably more relaxed than it did a moment prior.

Charlie almost asked what Jack meant by knowing where they could find him a body, but changed her mind as she saw Evelyn hurrying back with a tray of food.  
Setting a steaming bowl of soup down on the table, the kind woman warned Charlie that the bowl itself was quite hot. Beside the bowl, she lowered a small plate of crackers and a napkin with a spoon tucked neatly inside.  
“Here you go, Darlin’. Anything else I can get you?” She inquired, tucking the now empty tray neatly under her arm.    
“No, Miss Jones, that’s all for now. Thank you so much.”  
“Anytime, Dear. Enjoy.” With that, she left Charlie to her meal, heading back into the kitchen once more.

“Is that broccoli soup?” Jack asked as Charlie took her first bite and confirmed it was in fact, exactly that.  
“I haven’t had broccoli soup in a long time.” He murmured wistfully, causing Charlie to wrinkle her brow in confusion.  
“You’re an A.I. You haven’t have broccoli soup _, ever_.” She interjected softly, burning her tongue on the next bite but savouring the flavour so much that she didn’t mind.      
“Not true! My Mistress fed me lots of things when I had my body. I liked chocolates the most-- oh, and wine!”  
“Why do I get the feeling you once ate better than I ever have throughout my entire life?” Charlie grumbled, wondering just what kind of life Jack lived before he landed in Theta-Tau.  

As Jack proceeded to ramble off a list of the foods he liked; sandwiches, cakes, cookies, pies; Charlie continued her soup, half-ignoring him as she finished up her meal and headed over to the front counter to pay her tab.   
Once that was settled, she said her goodbyes to Jones and stretched, feeling a lot better now that she’d had a proper meal for the first time in a few days.

Just as she’d said she would, Charlie headed towards Ben’s Builds, a small hole-in-the-wall type shop that specialized in buying, selling and repair of old electronics. Ben liked to tinker with parts and see what he could get up and running again.  
  
While Haven wasn’t as technologically behind as some of the smaller cities down South, they could still stand to improve their situation. The bigger cities put a place like Haven to shame, practically drowning in advanced technology, as if they’d never been touched by the war that ravaged everyone else in the wasteland. It would make Charlie angry if she weren’t so busy being baffled by it.

“Well if it isn’t my favourite wasteland scavenger. Afternoon, Charlie.” Ben, a short, staunch fellow with a round potbelly greeted Charlie as she stepped foot in the shop; the doorbell jingling in her wake, as the umber-skinned man recognized her on sight.  
“What have you got for me today?” He asked, eying her heavy backpack as she dropped it on his counter with a loud clunk.  
“Maybe a lot of junk, Maybe a lot of treasure. I’m pretty sure that’s your job to figure out.” She smiled at the older man, hoping he’d give her a good price for the items, especially considering the hell she went through both retrieving them and bringing them back.  
  
The two talked business for a while and he offered her a good price on some of the better items, but might have low-balled her a bit on the cheaper-end stuff, though all things considered it seemed like a fair trade.  
With her bag considerably lighter, she slung the strap over one shoulder and said her goodbyes, politely heading for the door just as Michael walked in.  
  
“Oh! Hey, I know you!” Charlie blurted awkwardly, nearly bumping into the friendly youth on her way out.  
His black hair was a tad disheveled and there was a distinctive five-o-clock shadow tracing across his features. He was certainly his mother’s-son as he bore a similar complexion to Evelyn Jones, if slightly darker. He didn’t possess her spit-fire personality though, seeming more content to tinker around with Ben in his workshop, pouring his energy into getting old machines up and running again than chatting up dozens of people at any given moment.  
  
“Charlie! Hey! My Mother told me you were delivering some scraps to Ben. I just stopped by check in.”  
“Yeah, just dropped them off. If you get something up and running, be sure to let me know. I’d love to have a look at it.” Charlie beamed before stepping aside. She knew how Michael could get with his gadgets and didn’t want to hold him up. She didn’t understand why Ben wouldn’t just hire him on as a sales clerk already, with the way he was in the shop every day, maybe a lack of funds was the reasoning.  
  
Not more than three feet out the door, Jack spoke again, a subtle surprise in his tone,  
“Do you like that boy?”  
“Who? Michael? No! I mean, I don’t _hate_ him, …if that’s what you’re asking.” Charlie mumbled, her gaze flickering about carefully, watching to be sure no-one saw her speak. If anyone caught her mumbling to herself, she could probably plead insanity, but it might hurt her reputation a bit.

“Your heart-rate quickened when you saw him. My studies tell me that increased pulse rate is a sign of attraction.”  
“Oh yeah, did your studies tell you not to shove your nose where it doesn’t belong?” Charlie uttered, half-wishing Jack had his actual ‘body’ so she could strangle him.  
  
“Defensiveness! An interesting response, Charlotte.”  
“Shut it, _Data_.”  
“Oh, are we back to the pet-names again, little thief?”  
Charlie ignored his obviously baiting words and continued on her way.


	4. Celestial Heavens

With her business at the electronics shop finished, Charlie moved on to ‘The Infirmary’, a small automated medical clinic on the West side of town.  
While the clinic did have a Doctor and some nurses on hand for actual injuries, something as simple as selling and buying supplies was handled through vending machines, one for selling and one for buying. Charlie wouldn’t need to bother any of the diligent staff, unless she somehow managed to become crushed beneath a machine while exchanging goods.

At the clinic, Charlie sold off the spare medical supplies she’d looted, keeping only a few choice items for herself and dumping the rest for coin.  
Her backpack was nearly empty at that point, save for ammo and various light-weight supplies. Charlie could go looting again soon as she liked. For now though, she’d need to find a place to crash, catching up on much needled sleep sounded absolutely ideal.

Charlie had once or twice deliberated renting an apartment in Haven, but she’d never really been the settling type. Having lost so much in her life already, the idea of planting roots anywhere was a somewhat daunting concept to consider. Instead, she was content to rent a spot at the inn or camp out in the wastes. Sometimes she’d squat in the wreckage of an old home or in a sleeper-tent when she could find them. Really anywhere safe and dry would suffice, she wasn’t terribly picky. 

Haven had two Inn’s, one of them, The Hideaway, was dirt-cheap, and more of a pub really; with some spare bedrooms on the upper floor if you liked loud music, screaming drunks and bad hangovers.  
The other, Celestial Horizons, was a slightly pricier hotel built with the technology-heavy theme commonly seen in the bigger cities.  
For most travelers of the wastes, Celestial Horizons was their first taste of the rumored ill-gotten lifestyle of the ridiculously wealthy and overprivileged, leading them into fruitless ventures across the wastelands to try and claim some of that tempting lifestyle as their own. More often than not, they were never seen again. Whether they succeeded or not is anybody’s guess.

Deciding that she deserved something nice and quiet for a change, Charlie darted down a side-street, cutting through a few sections of town to make her way towards Celestial Horizons.   
Halfway there, Jack spoke up again, his intermittent on-again off-again silence was making Charlie jump.  
“Charlotte?”   
“Yes, Jack?”  
“Back at the workshop, when you traded in all those electronics? Was that a lot of money you received in return? I’m afraid my sensors are a bit skewed as far as monetary value at this point in time.”  
“It was enough. For now, anyway.” Charlotte replied, wondering what exactly Jack was getting at.  
“Would you have made much more if you’d sold me?” Ah. There it was. He seemed to be hinting at some reoccurring issue with being abandoned. She wondered if he wasn’t adjusting to his new surroundings as easily as she’d thought.  
  
“Probably enough to retire. Y’know, If I were the retiring sort.” She shrugged, not giving it much thought. No use fantasizing about money she didn’t have.  
“You’re awfully young to be retiring, Charlotte.”  
“Well I guess that tells you how much money you’re worth; now doesn’t it?”  
Jack didn’t reply; Charlie hoped that was a good sign and that he wasn’t secretly worrying that she might change her mind and pawn him off later.

Without further delay, she approached the familiar hotel, taking in sight of the massive structure and trying not to gasp in awe. Even the front of the building stood out from the rest of the shops around it, looking much cleaner and more advanced than the others. With it's combination of steel and metal walls illuminated by blinding florescent lights, it stood out like a sore-thumb between the other dimmer, buildings of wood and brick. 

Upon entering Celestial Horizons, Charlie was greeted by a calm looking brunette at the front desk, clad in a skin-tight, navy-blue uniform that complimented her ochre skin tone rather nicely. For a moment, Charlie entertained the thought that this company hired based on looks alone but dismissed such an unbecoming notion as something for a more ignorant mind to ponder.  
  
“Greetings. Welcome to Celestial Horizons. How may I assist you?” The figure, with a nametag clipped to the left of her shirt identifying her as ‘Lynne’, inquired.  
“I’ll just need a room for the night, if you have one available, please.”  
“Of course. Is that for one adult, or will you have someone joining you? If you’re interested, Celestial Heavens has a wonderful temporary companion program for a minor additional fee.” Lynne didn’t seem perturbed at all by her own words and Charlie pretended not to feel a little put upon by the suggestion.  
“Just me, thanks.” She mumbled, exchanging funds and following Lynne down a hall towards a small elevator.

“Your room is on the third floor at the end of the hall, on the left. Room 306. Complimentary breakfast is served in the Dining Hall from 6am to 11am. The Community Lounge and Bar are open from 5pm to 1am. The Ballroom is currently closed for maintenance, we apologize for any inconvenience and ask that our guests not disturb the area as it may be under construction. Please enjoy your stay and if any further assistance is required, do not hesitate to call the front desk.” Lynne rambled on for a moment as if she were reading off a script before offering Charlie the pass-card to her room and then returning to her station.

The ride up lasted no more than a few seconds, reaching the third floor before Charlie could blink twice. Stepping out into the hall revealed a long span of eggshell-white hallway, punctuated only by silver metal doors barring entrance to each room, three on either side of the hall.  
At the end of the hallway, Charlie turned to her left, pressing her keypass against the black slot beside the door and watching as the door slid open before her and then shut quietly behind her the moment she was inside.

The room was simplistic in design, but elegant in execution. The walls were blue with an off-white border; the floor was a tile in the same blue shade. The king-size bed was fitted with white sheets and comforter, with one blue and one white pillowcase each.  
A desk sat against the far wall overlooking a large bay window that was currently closed, covered by an electronic screen that could be adjusted at will. Its controls resided in two locations, one beside the light switch and the other beside the window itself.

To her right was the door to the bathroom and beside that was a rather large walk-in closet that she’d have no proper use for since most of her clothes were packed in a safety-box anyway.  
Dropping her backpack onto the bed, she unzipped it and fished around for said safety-box.  
Revealing a slim black case with a small keypad on the front, she set it down on her bed before punching a few numbers in to unlock it.  
  
“I recognize that!” Jack exclaimed, excitedly, a delight in his tone akin to the kind one might find in a small child on his birthday.  
“Well, you should. It’s a safety-box. Rather old, but, I found it and I fixed it. And now it’s mine.” Charlie grinned to herself, sounding positively pleased.  
“What do you keep in there?”  
“My clothes, mostly.” Charlie admitted with a tinge of embarrassment.

Safety-boxes were, for lack of a better description, extra-dimensional, instantly accessible storage areas. One could hide any number of things in them, of varying weights and sizes, and be able to carry them around as if they weighed nothing at all. Charlie’s safety-box was old and had been tossed around in a trash heap by time she’d stumbled across it. While it wasn’t able to hold a seemingly unlimited amount of items like its predecessors, it _was_ able to make the items it did hold seem weightless. One out of the two was good enough for her.

“I’d wondered about that. Your backpack seemed awfully light for someone running around all over god’s green earth.”  
“Yeah, well. We all make sacrifices. I _could_ store my loot in there, but honestly, I’d hate to have to dump my clothes out all over a shopkeeps counter every time I wanted to get at the box. Besides, if they know I have it then they’re going to try and haggle me for it, and personally, I’d rather spare myself the trouble.”  
“Fair enough, that.” To her surprise he agreed. No snark. No sarcasm. No trace of superiority in his words. Just understanding. Maybe he could be reasoned with after all.  
  
Popping the box open, she shuffled through her belongings, selecting a few pieces of clothing to change into.  
“You’re going to wear that?” She glanced at the hologram and saw him quirking an eyebrow in disdain towards the clothes bunched up in her arms.  
So much for being reasoned with.  
“You toe the line towards being shut off with every other word you say, I swear.”  
“Alright, alright! I’m sorry, Charlotte. I bet it will look lovely.”  
“Uh-huh.” She rolled her eyes and began unlatching the bracelet from her wrist.  
“Wait-what are you doing?!” he demanded, a flicker of alarm passing in his gaze.  
  
“Calm down! I’m going to take a shower.” She informed, as she placed the bracelet on her bed and began unbuttoning her top.  
“You can’t just leave me here! I’m valuable!” He protested in mock-horror.  
“Oh, believe me, if anybody kidnapped you, they’d probably bring you right back! Besides, I can’t just take you into the shower, either! You’re a man!”  
“I’m an A.I. Charlotte! I don’t care about your squishy bits!” He rolled his eyes, seeming almost insulted by the notion.  
“Don’t refer to them as squishy bits! My bits aren’t squishy! My bits are perfectly round and pliable! D-do I seriously look squishy to you?!” She stammered, caught off guard by his words.  
“Darling, you’re made of flesh and bone, everything about you looks squishy to me.” He stated, matter-of-factly.  
“Rude!”   
  
Without pausing to argue a moment longer, Charlotte stormed off into the bathroom, wishing that the door wasn’t automatic so she could have had the satisfaction of slamming it shut. She scoffed and shook her head as Jack shouted out from the bedroom after her,  
“But I’m water-proof!”

“Shower ON, medium-warm.” She commanded, hoping to drown out his whining with the sound of the water hitting tile. The device obliged and the shower came to life, steam slowly rising in the air as she pulled the remainder of her clothes off and kicked them to the corner of the bathroom.

The shower was large and spacious, with enough room for her and a second person, if she ever decided to be the second-person-in-a-shower kind of gal. Small bottles of complimentary shampoo’s and soaps lined the shelves and a hologram display on the wall opposite the water spout offered a variety of bath salts and body-washes available for purchase.  
Content with the freebies, Charlie proceeded to wash away the dirt and grime of the days exploits, the clear water pooling at her feet quickly turning brown from her efforts.

As she moved on to washing her hair, Charlie began to sing to herself. A soft lullaby that her mother used to sing, a song about horses and crying children, she never remembered all the words, but the parts she knew were precious to her. Charlie sang the bits she could recall over and over again, until the water ran clear once more and the soap and dirt alike were gone from her frame.

As the heat in the water began to fade, Charlie knew it was time to wrap things up.  
“Shower, OFF.” Half-heartedly she commanded her peaceful moment to an end and stepped out of the shower, reaching for a towel and stepping towards the mirror.

Wiping away the steam from the mirror revealed an underfed girl with soft curves and small breasts. She didn’t look squishy; She looked sickly.  
Her tone was a shade too pale, nearly devoid of color if not for the occasional splashes of pink in her face and the reddish-brown freckles that dotted her frame here and there, clustering across her shoulders, cheeks and forehead.  
The girl in the mirror looked tired too. Bright green eyes with noticeable bags beneath them were a testament to her many sleepless nights; obscured partially by flyaway strands of damp red hair, clinging to her shoulders, forehead and neck, dripping water down her frame.

 With a frown, she began to towel dry her hair, the loose wavy strands frizzing up in protest. Dragging the towel downward, across her diminutive frame, she shivered, despite having dried her skin. The steamy air wasn’t enough to keep her body warm, so she quickly tugged on the clean clothes she selected and ran a complimentary comb through her hair, trying to make it look a bit more presentable but not really caring much either way.  
“Forgot my toothbrush” She murmured to herself as she padded back into the bedroom, finding Jack just where she’d left him and hastily tugging the bracelet back on, clasping it tight to be sure it didn’t slip off by accident.

“You left me! I could have been stolen!” He whined, absolute devastation apparent in his tone.  
“And yet, here you are.” She smirked, rifling through her black box until she found the toothbrush she’d left behind and making her way back to the bathroom to brush her teeth.  
“What if someone broke in? What if they took me and pawned me and you never saw me again?!”  
“I’d go find you!” She said, through a mouthful of toothpaste, sounding more like an odd, crude chant than any actual language.  
It was true though. If someone stole her stuff, she’d hunt them down and take it back. Or at least, die trying.  
  
“What if you couldn’t find me? What if we never saw each other again?”  
“Don’t you think you’re being kind of dramatic?” Charlie spat the toothpaste out and rinsed her mouth with water, having to resist the urge to ask Jack just what the hell his childhood trauma was. They’d known each other for all of a day. No reason to get so angst-ridden. This A.I. had separation anxiety down pat. It was a little unnerving.

 “I’d feel a lot better if I actually had my body back! Then if you got in trouble, or worst-case scenario, I got abducted, I’d actually be able to do something about it, rather than sit here in this prison being miserable!”  
“Good to know you getting abducted is a worst-case scenario, but my getting in trouble is just a minor inconvenience.” Gathering her old clothes up from the bathroom, Charlie returned to her bag and tucked her belongings away once more before moving the backpack to the floor and plopping down onto the bed, exhausted.

“Charlotte, please. I don’t want to live like this.” Jack begged, his voice soft and pleading. Charlie didn’t want to admit it, but it really made her feel for him. She couldn’t imagine what it was like, being a sentient creature stuck inside a bracelet. All the knowledge of the world at your fingertips and never being able to physically experience any of it seemed like some kind of special hell.

Sprawling out on the bed, Charlie sighed,  
“Alright, Jack. I’m listening. Where can I find you a body?”


End file.
